home theater design Tag

In Pt. 1, legendary designer Theo Kalomirakis discussed the signature home theater he created in NY’s Westchester County for his company, Rayva. Here, we talk to Theo about Rayva’s streamlined approach to theater creation and its ambitious plans for the near future.

—Michael Gaughn

What are the differences between a Rayva theater and one of your custom designs?

That starts with the price. For a custom project, I am the one who will design the theater. Clients can make it very difficult to maintain a custom business because they are justifiably demanding. That means I must spend a lot of time just trying to keep them happy. That was OK for me in the past, but right now what excites me is focusing on Rayva. We can give clients a good-looking theater without the complications of a custom design.

The only real difference between Rayva and a custom design is that with custom you can pick and choose whatever you want. You want the Taj Mahal, you can have the Taj Mahal. If you want the Acropolis—God forbid—all you need to do is ask, and you will get the Acropolis. But with Rayva, there is a limited repertory of designs and that’s what you have to choose from.

It seems like Rayva is meant to speed up the whole design and installation process.

Absolutely. With the Configurator app on our website, a client can select the room size closest to their own room, the chairs that will go in, the electronics package, and the design theme, all in the course of about two minutes.

The main steps of Rayva’s Configurator app

We are in the process of engineering the hell out of our theaters. When the process is over, we will be able to inventory the various components so they can be available as parts. We’re creating a very large database of components that can be shipped by UPS or Federal Express for next-day delivery to the client. I believe that before too

long, we will be able to have a theater ready to be delivered and installed in a matter of days. The only thing not included in a Rayva theater is the installation. For this, we work with audio/video integrators who not only install the theater but also service it after it is completed.

Are there any particular kinds of rooms Rayva is best suited for?

Dedicated rooms. If we try to put Rayva in an open media room, it’s not going to work that well. You need at least three walls. It can be a basement, it can be the extra bedroom, it can be the attic.

Do you consider Rayva to be a luxury product?

It depends on how you define luxury. We have solutions that start at less than $60,000 for a complete theater—design, chairs, electronics, lighting. But, depending on the electronics package and the design, the price can go up quickly. I guess at $60,000 or more we are talking about a luxury product, even though the price is low for a typical soup-to-nuts theater. I do consider a Rayva theater a luxury use of a space. A dedicated room is not something everybody has. But luxury in this case doesn’t indicate necessarily a high price point.

The Rayvas theater we talked about earlier [in Part 1] was definitely on the luxury end, because we used the best treatments, the best chairs, the best leather, and a pricey design.

The other day, while participating in a Cineluxe Hour podcast, I joined my colleagues Michael Gaughn, Dennis Burger, and John Sciacca to exchange—one more time—our thoughts about dedicated home theaters versus media rooms. Dennis seemed to believe that dedicated home theater has become less relevant in the last few years. A friend of his, he said, was selling his house in LA and the buyer wanted to reclaim the dedicated theater space and use it for something else. John chimed it to say that because consumers don’t want to cover over windows to make a room into a theater, dedicated theaters had become less popular than media rooms.

I respect both points of view, but I am not ready to accept that we’re witnessing the approaching demise of dedicated home theater. When I sold my past three homes—to people who did not know about me—it helped the sale every single time that there was a home theater in it. The argument that windows can discourage people from turning a room into a dedicated home theater is valid, although what really doesn’t help a dedicated theater is that most homes have no more than three bedrooms and they’re all used for the parents and their kids. Unless there’s a basement in the house, it’s hard to give up living space for a home theater.

There is yet another apparent foe of home theaters. Until recently, the only way to enjoy a movie without distractions was in the comfort of a well-equipped dedicated room. This is still mostly true, but something else is happening that has contributed to dedicated rooms losing some ground. No, our entertainment needs haven’t changed.

What has changed is that we now have access to unlimited content that we can watch any way we want—on our phones while riding the subway, on a tablet while taking a lunch break, on a monitor while flying on a plane. That has to have trivialized somewhat the experience of watching movies.

I’ve noticed what happens to me when I’m on a long flight—all that available content makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. I start watching a movie, and then I drop it to watch another . . . and another . . . and another. The abundance of content has made us increasingly less focused, and I’m guilty of that too. My desire to enjoy a movie on the big screen of my theater is still there. But I also find myself watching Amazon Prime or Netflix on a regular TV, flipping through the content just like I do on a plane.

Has this hurt dedicated home theaters? Probably. Watching a movie in a dedicated theater or going to the movies used to be an event. It is less so nowadays. But those fortunate ones who have the space and the extra money for a dedicated theater—and appreciate the difference—aren’t going to settle just for casual viewing. They will want both. My take is that dedicated home theaters will continue to be the only option for those who want the focused experience that no TV, smartphone, tablet, or media room can compete with.

—Theo Kalomirakis

Theo Kalomirakisis widely considered the father of home theater, with scores of luxury theater
designs to his credit. He is also an avid movie fan, with a collection of over 15,000 discs. Theo
is the Executive Director of Rayva.

Legendary designer Theo Kalomirakis not only created the whole concept of home theater but has been the standard-bearer for luxury home cinema for his entire career. His two best-selling coffeetable books—Private TheatersandGreat Escapes—are filled with lavish theaters created in every imaginable style.

Seeing the interest in dedicated theater rooms decline over the past few years, Theo has helped form Rayva, a company devoted to dramatically simplifying the whole process of designing, engineering, and installing high-end theaters. Rayva recently completed a signature installation in Westchester County, north of New York City, that’s meant to show that the company’s streamlined approach to theater design can yield a luxury result.

In Part 1 of our interview, Theo talks about some of the challenges and triumphs of creating this strikingly contemporary space.

—Michael Gaughn

Did this begin as a Rayva theater?

No. The client saw a custom theater I had designed for a friend of his and said, “Let’s do something like that for my house.” I told him, “We can come up with something based on one of the designs we are developing for Rayva. There is one I think would fit your house very well.”

The room was above the garage, in a new space, and it was ready for the theater. But it was perforated with windows on three sides. So I said, “It’s not good to put a home theater in a room with windows.The light creates a problem, but more importantly, the sound will bounce off the glass of the windows.” He said, “I don’t mind if you cover the windows. It’s the garage. We don’t need to touch them from the outside. You can close them from inside.”

That was an interesting challenge. I wanted to cover the windows but I wanted the client to still be able to have access to them. So the windows dictated the design. And because Rayva panels are in increments of four feet, I could place one in front of a window and have it removable if access to the window was needed.

I felt very vindicated that this process we have developed allows even difficult rooms to become theaters. Because of the flexibility of our design elements, we can deal with difficult design challenges.

What were the client’s expectations for this room?

He just wanted to have a great theater. He said, “Cost is not the issue. I would just like to have the best technology, the best design, the best seats.” I shared with him brochures with Cineak seating. He selected one of the best-looking seats, and picked the finest leather. He wanted the softest, more plush leather, which is what he got.

And then we selected the carpet. Usually that happens at the end of the design process, and the clients are overwhelmed with all the expenses of equipment and woodwork and everything. So I automatically suggested just a plain grey industrial-quality nylon carpet that in a room like that would cost, at most, five, six thousand dollars. But I also showed him something that was plusher, like wool. He immediately went with the wool. He said, “Listen—I’m not going to use a nylon carpet. I spent so much money on the theater, I want the carpet to match the quality of the rest.”

I was trying to protect his budget, but clients who know what they want are different from clients who do things just because they want to save a penny here and a penny there. I respect how the former type of clients focus on the ultimate quality.

What was the installation process like for this theater?

Rayva doesn’t do the actual installation, so when we started the project, we reached out to Nick Di Clemente, the owner of Elevated Integration. When Nick introduced himself to the client, it turned out the client had additional needs. This was a newly renovated house and he needed whole-house audio. So Nick got the contract for the rest of the house, and he was happy about that.

What are some of the highlights of the theater?

The client selected our Origami design. The good thing about the triangles of the Origami design is that they allow flexible placement. We were able to use Wisdom Audio speakers—and there were lots of them and they’re big—without any conflicts with the room design.

This theater has a very different, outside-the-box design. In home theater, you expect to see columns and panels repeating themselves. You expect moldings that are gilded, and walls panels that are upholstered with brocade fabric. With Rayva, we tried to move away from that aesthetic because we wanted to change the perception of what a home theater looks like.

That’s why we bring in artists and architects that are not related to home theater to create the Rayva designs. With our guidance, their visions can be turned it into something that’s functional and can work with a variety of room sizes.

Also, this theater used acoustical treatments specified by Steve Haas’s company, SH Acoustics. Steve worked to get the best possible distribution of acoustical treatments within the limitations of the design. When the theater was finished, he spent two days calibrating the Wisdom Audio speakers and made the theater sound unbelievable.

What was the client’s reaction to the theater?

The client is very happy. He told me that his kids practically live in that space.

Was there anything else you wanted to mention about the theater?

I want to tell you something. We put pictures of the theater on Houzz, where we can monitor which pictures resonate with end users. We were surprised to find out that we got a lot of likes for the interior of the theater but got more likes for the marquee outside. Go figure. I didn’t take that as an insult but as an indication that clients still relate to having a marquee outside the theater. So we will be creating a marquee as a Rayva product and make it available as an accessory to the theater.

In Part 2, Theo talks about how Rayva is ramping up to offer luxury theaters that can go from ordering
to installation in just a week.

Theo Kalomirakisis widely considered the father of home theater, with scores of luxury theater designs to his credit. He is also an avid movie fan, with a collection of over 15,000 discs. Theo is the Executive Director of Rayva.

CINELUXE SHOWCASE

I came back from Greece last week, where we printed the latest brochure for Ravya and I supervised the shipping of Antonia Papatzanaki’s light sculptures to the U.S. The trip was eventful for another reason as well: I met Marina Vernicos, an accomplished artist whose creative photography is about to become a great addition to Rayva’s growing library of designs.

Marina’s accomplishments as an artist spread across many continents. She was born in Athens, Greece and studied Communications and Photography at Emerson College in Boston and Business Administration at the Harvard Extension School.

Since 2001, her work has been featured in a number of solo and group exhibitions, including the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, the Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Hangaram Art Museum in Korea, and galleries in London, Monaco, and NY. She has been awarded the Sandro Botticelli Prize at the Palazzo Guicciardini Bongianni in Florence and the La Grande Exposition Universelle at the Eiffel Tower, and has published four books of her work. She is the Founder and President ofCREAID, a non-profit organization that commissions creative projects that are then auctioned to support humanitarian causes. She has also created a line of clothes and accessories under her name.

I spent the morning of a beautiful sunlit day at Marina’s spectacular residence at the foot of the Lykavitos Hill in Athens, familiarizing myself with her work. I knew right away that her stylized seascapes could be the basis a new design theme for Rayva.

Many of her images are captured using a camera mounted on a drone. Others are closeups of sea shells—“daughters of the sea,” as she calls them. Her work evokes a reality where the mind isn’t bogged down by the minutiae of everyday life and can soar free to liberating heights.

—Theo Kalomirakis

Theo Kalomirakisis widely considered the father of home theater, with scores of luxury theaterdesigns to his credit. He is an avid movie fan, with a collection of over 15,000 discs. Theo is theExecutive Director ofRayva.

having a dark area on the front wall helps keep attention focused on the screen

In “Media Room or Home Theater? It Depends,” I talked about how media rooms are a viable alternative for anyone looking for high-quality playback of movies, TV, music, etc. at home. While I acknowledged that a dedicated home theater is still the best way to go if you want the ultimate at-home entertainment experience—especially if you have the space and budget—a media room is within reach of virtually anyone.

Keep in mind that my comments here are directed at people who want to create a system that can provide a first-rate entertainment experience but who don’t have a proper space (or bank account) for a dedicated theater room. As the wave of interest in media rooms continues to grow, discussing ways to maximize performance in a multi-use space and the different installation options becomes increasingly important when you’re weighing the options.

In his post “Media Room or Home Theater?” Theo talked about the inevitable visual distractions in a media room. Of course, not every designer is as gifted or experienced as Theo is, so there are plenty of home theaters out there with their share of distractions—like over-elaborate gold ceilings and framed artwork that can reflect light from the screen when the lights go down. And twinkling fiber-optic starlight ceilings—which many customers seem to love—can rob the image of contrast and definitely pull attention from the screen.

Of course, whether it’s a media room or a dedicated theater, the room should be designed “to help keep your attention focused on the screen,” as Theo wrote. That’s where good design comes in, and an area where I think he will ultimately be able to not only place his mark but possibly reinvent the way people think about media rooms.

my 115-inch screen and the area around it, before the lights go down

photo by Jim Raycroft

In my room from the principal viewing positions, almost all of my view during movie time is taken up by our 115-inch screen. At the extreme edges of my vision are a door and some art, which I don’t even notice anymore when the lights are out and the movie is on.

Finding a way to decorate a media room so the screen wall can be painted a dark color will also help to pull vision toward and focus attention on the screen (and improve perceived contrast to boot!). Perhaps a design that includes a motorized drape or curtain that darkens the front wall and helps the screen to pop would be something Theo could explore . . ?

He also bemoaned the all-too-common media-room fallback of placing a credenza beneath the screen to hold the room’s equipment. Fortunately, there are so many ways to conceal and incorporate gear into a modern installation, it’s merely up to the installer and designer to come up with a creative gameplan for the look of the system.

Instead of wondering how to make a media room as good as a dedicated theater, maybe another way to look at it is to ask, “How can we embrace new technology innovations to make a media room the very best experience it can be, while maximizing the strengths of a multi-use room?”

That is something I’ll explore in my next post! But at the end of the day, even the very best media rooms will always have limitations well-designed home theaters don’t.

I totally agree with him when he says, “A media room is fine for watching something casually on TV.” But let’s be honest: Most viewing these days—regardless of where it’s done—is casual. As I’m writing this, I’m in my media room and the TV is on. So are all the lights in the media/family room and the kitchen behind it. I’m typing on my laptop and listening to Tidal on headphones. My 11 year old is splitting time between finishing up a homework assignment and watching the screen. My wife is in and out of the room folding clothes while checking her phone. None of us are actively watching the TV.

Theo felt one of the inherent problems with media rooms is “visual distractions,” and said things like windows, doors, and fireplaces can take you out of the movie. But by far the biggest distraction I see has far more to do with the modern, active lifestyle, not any limitations of the room. And if you told people they could only watch TV if they stopped everything else they were doing and committed all their attention to the screen, many would pass. (One of the major reasons why 3D failed, in my opinion.)

But when it comes time for active viewing—say, when we want to watch a movie—it’s a completely different story. The lights all go off, the small screens go away, and the big screen rolls down. With the lights off and the projector on, all attention is focused on the screen. Doors, windows, and fireplaces all disappear into the periphery. And I can promise your our media room has no shortage when it comes to delivering screams, cheers, frights, or tears.

If I was ever lucky enough to have Theo design a dedicated home theater room for me,
his famous Paramount Theatre would be a great place to start.

I couldn’t agree more that “there is no substitute for a dedicated home theater.” And if I had the limitless budget of many of Theo’s clients, and a home design that could support it, there is no question I would have a dedicated room as the ultimate sanctuary for indulging in movie watching. I’d have Theo design me the sickest of spaces, worthy of any A-list Hollywood director’s screening room.

But honestly, knowing our family’s lifestyle, I’m sure an isolated room—no matter how amazing—would see far less use than our centrally located media/gathering room.

In Part 2, I’ll talk about how home theaters and media rooms have some “flaws” in common, and how Theo’s talent could help make media rooms more palatable for discerning movie lovers with active families.

The other day, a writer from Luxury asked me: “What’s the most challenging thing for you in designing a dedicated theater?” It only took me a second to come up with the answer: “Windows,” I said.

I wasn’t joking. Half of the time I spend creating a new design goes toward figuring out what to do with the windows most rooms have. I would rather not cover them with curtains as I did for a client in Beverly hills a few years ago. (See the photo above.) Curtains in front of windows is a design copout. The only curtain in the room should be the one in front of the screen. When I must deal with windows, I usually try to hide them behind some type of treatment, usually operable panels that conceal acoustic treatments. (See the photo below.)

With Rayva, things have gotten easier for me. The large acoustic panels in these designs can be placed in front of blacked-out windows without fussy customization. (See below.) The trick is trying to persuade a client to agree to cover their windows permanently.

I had such a conversation earlier this week with a Rayva client on the west coast. He would have liked to have kept the windows accessible. But when he realized how cumbersome it would be to make floor-to-ceiling panels operable, he gave me the reason why we should leave the windows concealed. “How many times will I watch a movie,” he said, “while I’m staring out the window?” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Nobody likes to be told they’re stuck with an unsolvable problem. In a situation where a decision needs to be made, all it takes is laying out the options and letting the client decide. A happy client is a client who’s given options. And a good designer is one who makes sure the client is happy.

—Theo Kalomirakis

Theo Kalomirakisis widely considered the father of home theater, with scores of luxury theater
designs to his credit. He is an avid movie fan, with a collection of over 15,ooo discs. Theo is the
Executive Director of Rayva.

ALSO ON CINELUXE

The answer to the question “Which is better—a media room or a dedicated home theater?” is simple: Both, if you have the space. A media room is fine for watching something casually on TV. Visual distractions—windows, doors, fireplaces, etc.—become part of the experience. But for being immersed in a movie, there is no substitute for a dedicated home theater.

All of my Rayva designs so far have been for dedicated theaters. To showcase these design themes in the best possible way, the rooms must have four walls with no window “perforations.” But such a room is a luxury in most homes, particularly ones without basements.

So, what can we do to make having a media room as good as having a home theater? Not much, really, except understand the limitations of a media room and do what we can to minimize them. You can’t do much with windows except cover them with shades to block the light. You can’t do much with the walls except install acoustic treatments in the spaces between openings. And avoiding bright, light colors will minimize reflections from the screen.

There are two other areas where we can help compensate for the inherent limitations of a media room: The seating arrangement and the wall where the projection screen (or TV) is displayed. One approach is to treat the room as if it were a stage set where the spotlights hit just the sofa and the screen wall. You can do this with soft recessed lighting from the ceiling and with table lamps placed in key locations around the room. Diverting attention from other objects in the space helps viewers focus on where the action is—on the screen wall.

My colleagues at Rayva have asked me to come up with a media-room concept. That’s a tremendous challenge for me. I wish I could have the same design control in a media room that I have in a dedicated theater room, but I can’t.

I’ve been pondering this problem a lot lately. I keep closing my eyes and trying to visualize the screen wall. The surface around the screen has to help keep your attention focused on the screen. And let’s not have a credenza under the screen, please. Credenzas are the predictable companion of a TV set, and they become a visual cliché no matter how useful they are for hiding the electronics. But what if you could place something there that is slicker, slimmer, less obtrusive? I’m working on it.

Rayva deserves it—and those without the room for a dedicated theater deserve it too. I’ll solve the problem one of these days, and will write about it when I do. But for now, it’s just a concept in my mind.

—Theo Kalomirakis

Theo Kalomirakisis widely considered the father of home theater, with scores of luxury theater
designs to his credit. He is an avid movie fan, with a collection of over 15,ooo discs. Theo is the
Executive Director of Rayva.

ALSO ON CINELUXE

Call it the Movie Palace influence. In my career as a theater designer, I have focused predominantly on traditional-style theaters. But, for some reason, I couldn’t come up with anything for the Rayva design library that would read “traditional.” Maybe it was a mental block, or maybe an inability to stylize traditional design elements and make them work inside the minimalist environment of a Rayva theater. At some point, I stopped trying and started talking to other designers who weren’t as close to the subject matter as I was.

The evening I met Vincenzo Avanzato for dinner to discuss traditional designs for Rayva, I knew we were on to something. As soon as Vin was engaged in the conversation, he started sketching ideas on the paper napkin at the restaurant, and I was hooked. You know the feeling—a gut reaction that you’re on the right track.

That was a month ago. Hurricane Irma made it difficult to talk to Vin again until last week. He emailed to tell me he had some concepts to share with me, and we discussed them via Skype yesterday.

As I’d expected, they were bold and original. They were all based on pen and ink sketches of architectural details he had done in the ‘90s. Twenty years later, they were still fresh and exciting. The fact that the concept was different from the collage of images typical of the Rayva design themes didn’t bother me. I loved the boldness of the sketches, which fill a whole wall in the room with one monolithic concept.

One of the concepts has the primary image at the back of the room, as opposed to the front of the room, which is what I expected. The design elements at the front of the room usually act as a proscenium frame around the screen—but not in Vin’s design. The area around the screen in some of his concepts is totally empty. This ends up emphasizing the screen area, the focal point of the theater, just as much as the most ornate proscenium. Silence is sometimes more eloquent than words.

I will continue to keep you updated as I work with Vincenzo to thoroughly flesh out these ideas.

—Theo Kalomirakis

Theo Kalomirakisis widely considered the father of home theater, with scores of luxury theater
designs to his credit. He is an avid movie fan, with a collection of over 15,ooo discs. Theo is the
Executive Director of Rayva.

REVIEWS

ALSO ON CINELUXE

Look at practically any website that concerns itself with home theater and you’ll likely see example after example of dedicated home theaters. These are often beautiful spaces, luxuriously appointed, with fabric-covered walls, intricate woodwork and moldings, and rows of fabulous seats arrayed in tiers facing a giant screen—frankly, the kinds of things that made Theo Kalomirakis the legend he is and earned him the moniker, “The father of home theater.”

And as a custom installer, I can tell you these are almost always wonderful projects to work on. This is generally “our room” to maximize performance for one goal: Creating the ultimate movie-watching experience. Speaker locations are optimized, acoustics can be perfected, sound treatments can isolate external distractions, and lighting can be controlled for an ideal presentation.

But, despite all that, dedicated high-end rooms seem to be waning in popularity, giving way to something that could clumsily be called a multi-use space, but which we’ll call a media room.

Unlike a dedicated room—which is usually a separate, totally closed-off space, typically with a single door and no windows—a media room can be located in virtually any room of the house. In fact, media rooms are often in large communal areas like living rooms or family rooms, which actually gives them two advantages. First, every home can have one. Second, in my experience, media rooms get used far more often than dedicated rooms, which require viewers to actively get up and relocate themselves to a different location.

And, unlike dedicated home theaters, media rooms aren’t mainly for watching movies. They can be the best way to watch TV, listen to music, play videogames, view digital images, and stream content in a relaxed and comfortable environment. And couches, love seats, and comfy chairs—furniture already located in the room—all provide perfect seating options for your family or a group of friends.

At its most basic, a media room consists of a relatively large-screen TV—let’s say at least 55 inches—along with some kind of improved audio experience, like a soundbar and subwoofer.

But for the true movie or music lover—or anyone who takes their entertainment seriously—this minimal approach won’t suffice, and their media rooms share many components similar to those found in a dedicated space. These include:

And don’t think that having a media room in the middle of the house has to mean having stacks of gear out in the open, or having to live with monolithic speakers, or even having to have your room dominated by a giant screen on the wall. There are a ton of technology options available that can deliver phenomenal experiences with minimal impact on your décor.

How do I know? Because I’ve had my own media room for nearly 10 years, and installed dozens for clients.

In my next post, I’ll tell you about my no-compromise media room, and the installation decisions I made to make the most out of my space and entertainment system.